Nigerian Prelate Urges Government to Take Action

"No single event has held our country together and elicited attention and sympathy the way this tragic incident has done" said the Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto, speaking about the abduction of more than 200 Nigerian girls.

The girls were kidnapped from a school in the northern Nigerian town of Chibok more than a month ago while they were taking exams.

The incident has sparked international attention, with widespread criticism over the government’s inability to locate the girls.

However, Bishop Kukah, speaking during a moment of prayer held for the girls, noted the worldwide solidarity that the abduction of the girls has inspired.

He thanked those countries who have offered their services in locating the girls, but urged the Nigerian government to take action. "Those who govern us appreciate that we have a country to build? Will our politicians understand that we have a future to nurture? Will they realize that government is so serious that it should never be left in the hands of politicians?"

During the prayer service, Bishop Kukah said: "We gather not in bitterness, hurt or in self-pity. We gather in faith and trust, believing that the one who sees all that is done in secret, will reward our long waiting. To gather in anger or bitterness would be to fall victim and enlist in the army of the devil. We are higher than that and our faith calls us to greater nobility."